We're Making It Up As We Go Along
- Thread starter krathnami
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My suggestion: Constituimus dum vadimus.krathnami dixit:I am looking for a translation of the phrase- "We are making it up as we go along" for a website I am building. Is there anyone who can help me?
For Latinists, I can't think of a better word for "(we are) making it up" than constituimus. Facimus is, in my opinion, too general.
For the second part, I have never been a fan of eo - "go" standing alone in prose other than in the forms it or eunt. It's a personal prejudice, but I almost treat this verb like the defective ait unless it is compounded. Thus, I don't like imus for "we are going along". Furthermore vadimus has some advantages; it emphasizes the hurried/rushed idea of "going along" that I believe is part of this common phrase, and it rhymes with constituimus (I considered progredimur, but ultimately liked the rhyme too much to use it).
Comments?
Constituimus - "we set up/arrange" (cf. the English words "constitute" and "constitution")krathnami dixit:Hey, that's great Cato, thanks! What is the literal translation, if I may ask?
dum - "while, as long as"
vadimus - "we advance/go forward/rush"
Note that--unlike English--no Latin verb forms distinguish between simple present (e.g. "we make up") and continuous present (e.g. "we are making up"); each of these aspects are translated by the same word in Latin: Constituimus.
The translation is really quite literal: "we are making it up (or establishing it, or setting it up) as we go".
But does not constituere, in this context, need to be transititive? I am willing to be corrected, but I think we must give the verb an explicit object, as
Id constiuimus dum vadimus
I think this describes people approaching some matter in a very flexible way, without a preordained solution.
But does not constituere, in this context, need to be transititive? I am willing to be corrected, but I think we must give the verb an explicit object, as
Id constiuimus dum vadimus
I think this describes people approaching some matter in a very flexible way, without a preordained solution.
One doesn't need a nos; the idea of "we" is conveyed by the verb-ending -imus. To include the nos would be to emphasize the "we" fairly heavily.
I would have thought that constituere could in this context only be transitive, that is, that it requires a direct object. So I suggested the inclusion of a neuter accusative id; we make it up as we go along. But Cato may know better; let us await his reply.
I would have thought that constituere could in this context only be transitive, that is, that it requires a direct object. So I suggested the inclusion of a neuter accusative id; we make it up as we go along. But Cato may know better; let us await his reply.
There are two questions here.
I'll agree constituere is generally transitive, and I'm having trouble finding a clear example where it is used without a direct object, so I agree with Iynx that we need an object--the "it" in the original sentence.
But id just looks bad; I'm going to stretch the original phrase a bit and suggest omnia - "all"; Omnia constituimus dum vadimus - "We're making everything up as we go along."
Regarding nos - "we", this word isn't really necessary in Latin; when the subject is a pronoun, it is commonly omitted unless you want to emphasize it. I don't think that's the case here.
I'll agree constituere is generally transitive, and I'm having trouble finding a clear example where it is used without a direct object, so I agree with Iynx that we need an object--the "it" in the original sentence.
But id just looks bad; I'm going to stretch the original phrase a bit and suggest omnia - "all"; Omnia constituimus dum vadimus - "We're making everything up as we go along."
Regarding nos - "we", this word isn't really necessary in Latin; when the subject is a pronoun, it is commonly omitted unless you want to emphasize it. I don't think that's the case here.